Survival Instincts
by patientalien
Summary: Obi-Wan tries to keep himself and Anakin alive after their ship crashes  and doesn't fall down once!  Clone Wars-era.


**Title: **Survival Instincts  
**Author:** **patientalien**  
**Title:** Survival Instinct  
**Challenge:** SWMININANO  
**Prompt:** Despair  
**Word Count:** 1191  
**Characters:** Anakin, Obi-Wan  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** Obi-Wan tries to keep himself and Anakin alive after their ship crashes (and doesn't fall down once!)

* * *

The cave was cold, and Obi-Wan wasn't sure how much longer they would be able to stay there. He'd been able to build a fire, but there wasn't much left to burn. There wasn't much to eat, the majority of their rations having been destroyed along with their ship. He'd melted some snow for drinking water, and there was plenty more, so at least they didn't have to worry about dehydration. Which just meant it would take longer to starve, so he wasn't sure he was thankful for that.

He knew he shouldn't be thinking that way. He knew that they would be able to come up with a plan - they always did. But it was difficult to remember when circumstances were so immediately dire. Once Anakin was up, he thought, they would be able to regroup.

The question, of course, was when Anakin would be up. He'd been piloting, unrestrained, when their ship had been hit. He'd been surprised; it wasn't often Anakin Skywalker got shot down (despite how much he tended to crash, it usually wasn't due to being hit by enemy fire) and before he could strap in, they'd been hurtling through the trees.

Through some miracle he hadn't been killed on impact, had somehow managed without breaking his neck or cracking his skull. He had a concussion, and several broken bones - along with a deep, worrying laceration on his flesh arm. No supplies meant no bacta, which meant Obi-Wan had put Anakin into a fitful healing trance several hours ago. He was not a healer, though, so he wasn't even sure how effective his efforts would be. Once Anakin woke, he would reassess. They would come up with a plan. They would survive.

In the meantime, he toiled with their comlinks, trying to get them working again. Anakin, of course, would have had a much easier time of it, but Obi-Wan pushed those thoughts out of his mind. Contrary to Anakin's opinion, he was capable of handling things without his former Padawan.

Several hours later, Obi-Wan's fingers were numb and he was no closer to his goal than he was when he'd started. Across the cave, near the dying fire, Anakin stirred. "Master?" His voice was thick with exhaustion and pain, but he was conscious. Obi-Wan abandoned his task and went to Anakin's side.

"Anakin." His cold fingers found the pulse in Anakin's neck, strong but slightly fluttering. Moving carefully, trying not to jar the young man too much, Obi-Wan inspected Anakin's wounds. His arm, bound with the torn-off sleeve of his tunic, was still oozing blood and the edges of the wound were red and irritated. Obi-Wan decided that, once the bleeding slowed a bit more, to boil some snow-water to try to clean it and its dressing a bit better. A bruise had formed on Anakin's face, one eye swollen shut, blood dried on his nose and mouth.

"How's it look?" Anakin asked, struggling to rise to a sitting position. Always, Obi-Wan thought ruefully, on the move.

"It's a good look for you," he said, trying to keep the concern from his voice. He knew Anakin had little regard for his own safety, but he didn't want to worry him more than neccessary. Anakin was the emotional one, the one prone to overreaction. Obi-Wan knew he was counted on to be calm in the face of adversity while Anakin threw himself headlong into whatever trouble they'd found themselves in.

Anakin swayed slightly but managed to stay sitting, which Obi-Wan counted as a victory. "How long before we get out of here?" Anakin croaked, gratefully accepting the canteen of fire-purified water Obi-Wan offered.

"Once I get the comlinks working, it shouldn't be more than a few hours. The Resolute is in orbit and they know we were shot down." Obi-Wan replied, his unspoken 'if I can get them working' hanging heavy in the air.

"Ahsoka and Rex are probably already looking for us," Anakin said, trying to sound hopeful. "I can look at the comlinks if you want." But as he said it, he paled significantly and leaned over, vomiting into the dirt.

"I don't think that's necessary," Obi-Wan said, helping him lie back down and draping their one thermal cloak over him. "I'm not as helpless as you seem to assume I am."

Anakin's eyelids were drooping, and Obi-Wan was half-tempted to put him back into the healing trance. But with a concussion, and without proper healer training, he feared it would do more harm than good. "Coulda fooled me," Anakin shot back, "I mean, how many times have I rescued you now?"

"Well, let me do the rescuing this time," Obi-Wan implored, trying not to laugh at the disgruntled expression on Anakin's face. He knew the pressure the boy put on himself, but he would only make himself worse if he pushed now.

It spoke volumes when Anakin nodded. "Fine. Just this once."

Hours turned into a day. The day turned into two. Anakin slept fitfully as infection and fever set in. There was water, but no food. Obi-Wan's stomach rumbled uncomfortably, and although he had the Force to waylay much of his discomfort, he knew he was weakening - they both were. As day two disappeared and day three took its place, he began to despair. They didn't have time for Ahsoka and Rex to search an entire planet for them, and the comlinks were still not fixed. He began to regret not allowing Anakin to help intially; as it was, the boy was no longer in any condition to provide any substantial assistance.

"Shhh," he whispered, trying to send soothing waves through the Force to Anakin, who was trying to jerk away from him instead of allowing his wounds to be cleaned.

For five more days, they endured, Obi-Wan rising at dawn to rekindle the fire with their dwindling supplies, to collect snow to make drinking and cleaning water, to work on the comlinks. He tended to Anakin in spurts, determined not to just give up and let both of them succumb to the elements.

On the eighth day, a rumbling in the distance jerked Obi-Wan's awareness towards the mouth of the cave. Anakin sensed it too, but could no longer summon the strength to move. For an instant, Obi-Wan was sure the cave was collapsing, that they would be trapped here, but as he got closer to the light at the cave's opening, he heard it: a whine of a LAAT/i drive core. Then he felt it: Ahsoka, bright and burning in the Force. Obi-Wan ventured into the bright sunlight, shielding his eyes with one hand, waving with the other. He ignited his lightsaber for added visibility, hardly possesing the strength to hold it above his head. After what seemed like eternity, and after Obi-Wan had decided he had simply imagined the whole thing, the larty burst through a clearing in the trees, the pilot angling the side openings so Obi-Wan could see Ahsoka and Rex and what looked like half of the 501st.

He laughed, despair turning to hope, and then joy unlike any he'd ever known.


End file.
